Background :It was plugged to my main desktop computer through a USB adaptor for a few days (actually it's the USB board from a 3.5" external enclosure – I won't trust these things anymore as their power supplies seem unreliable), I was transfering files to a larger HDD, and trying to figure out a strange issue which happened a few months ago (I haven't used the laptop computer since), probably unrelated (1), proceeding quite slowly.Yesterday it was functioning normally, today it doesn't spin at all, no noise, nothing. I tried plugging it internally, no luck either. There's no visible sign of damage, burnt component or similar, that I can identify. Before that the drive had 3 reallocated sectors, but they were there already when I acquired that computer (purchased used in 2012), and it has remained stable ever since (up until yesterday HD Sentinel displayed a 95% health status for that drive). All my computer related devices are powered through a UPS (2).Pretty much everything on the “Data” partition is saved somewhere, while the most important data from the “Vista” system partition is also backed-up. I was planning on doing a full system backup with Acronis True Image right after those operations, but now it's too late – unless I manage to get the drive operational again, at least temporarily ; I do have a full system backup but it's from 2014, although little has been changed since then to the system or the installed programs, so at worst I could still rely on that to get the computer up and running. But of course ideally I'd like to get that drive working again, so that I can at least make an updated system backup and/or clone the whole contents to another drive (3).

Questions :– Could it be a case of a shorted TVS diode ? How can I identify those, and how can I test those ? (I've read several threads regarding similar issues but never had the opportunity to perform practical tests so I forgot the specifics.) If one of these tiny things turns out to be the culprit, can it safely be removed using a regular soldering iron, or does it require a specific tool ?– Failing that, is this a model on which the PCB can be swapped directly in order to regain access to the drive, or is there a ROM component to solder onto the replacement board, or does it require professional firmware tools ?– Could it be another kind of issue, not related to the PCB ?

Thanks,G.

(1) In the course of a very long work session – the computer had been put in hibernation repeatedly for weeks or months with no reboot – the system began acting up (I don't remember the details), I tried to save everything I was doing and reboot normally, but it froze instead, I had to shut it down the hard way ; then the next time it booted I noticed that the files I had created just before rebooting (while trying to save everything useful from the open windows) were unreadable, they appeared as blank. Yet, when opened through WinHex's own explorer, I could see seemingly random contents at their location on the volume, but in the “Attributes” column they were marked as “partial init.”, meaning, according to the integrated help, that the contents on those files' locations do not correspond to the actual contents of the files (it usually is former data which was present before the file was created), and therefore those bytes are interpreted by the system as empty (even if I open one of these files in WinHex from Windows Explorer, it appears as blank ; R-Studio displays and saves them as blank, while Recuva displays and saves their erroneous contents, same as WinHex when reading them from within its own explorer). It's the first time I see something like this. Also, several programs were no longer working properly (most notably, Firefox failed to restore the previous session, even with a backup made days before those issues appeared).

(2) Sunday afternoon the UPS has been briefly emitting an alarm, about 3 times 1-2 sec. within an hour or so, and when it did the “battery capacity” was reported as 1-2%, which is abnormal since it stays plugged continuously and each incident was very brief (now it's back to 100% capacity but I don't know if I can trust it), so it's possible that there were electrical problems in my area, or that the battery from the UPS is malfunctioning, or both ; this may be related with the current issue.

(3) I was planning on migrating that drive's contents to a 240GB SATA SSD, having installed a PCIe SSD on my desktop computer, but I've had weird issues with that too (most notably an abnormally long wake-up time from hibernation, about 5min. with a Samsung 950 Pro, I still haven't solved this), so it's one more thing that has been lagging lately...

Without current:Prove that f1 is driving 0 ohm.d1 (tvs or diode zenes I do not know) does not have to be short-circuited.With isolated pcb current.f1 5v at both ends.d1 on one end 5v on the other gnd.

Thank you for this reply.I'll have to first purchase a multimeter, or at least a set of cables, as one cable is defective on the basic one I have (and considering how cheap the whole thing was I'm probably better off buying a brand new one).So far I have almost no practical experience in investigating that kind of electronic failure. Could you please elaborate a bit on these points :– “Prove that f1 is driving 0 ohm” => Is this the expected result in case of failure or on a normally operating drive ?– “d1 (tvs or diode zenes I do not know) does not have to be short-circuited” => Do you mean, when it's working properly, there should be no short-circuit ?– “With isolated pcb current” => Meaning what exactly ? Plugging the PCB only ?– If one of those components has failed, just removing it should make the drive operational again ?

I've read on this forum (here for instance) that when a HDD has a shorted TVS diode, trying to power it up through the PSU of a desktop computer results in a shutdown. If there's no shutdown, does it mean that the problem has another cause ?

Are there other failure types which would be consistent with those symptoms ?

And again, would a simple PCB swap work for that model ? Or would a ROM chip have to be transposed ? Could it be the chip in U6 ?

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Do you use MRTLAB or something similar, if you do not mind saying it?

No, I currently don't have any professional recovery softwares / tools. In a case like this, how would it help with the diagnosis and/or fix ?

- Plig the PCB only to your firmware tool or laking that plug it to the system and run something like Victoria, MHDD, HRT DEMO, etc on the port where you do have the PCB connected.

- Power it up and check register status.

- If the PCB goes to BSY for a while and then later it reports DRDY and DSC you should be able to try the Super On combination to access memory (arch M24) or normal Super On on ARM and read NVRam.

- If the PCB doesn't report BSY and then DRDY and DSC the PCB is NOT working as expected.

- If you don't have specific firmware tools and you don't know VSCs to use with HRT DEMO for example you can simply check register status and it should provide a clue ...

- Most IBM/HGST will have a FUSE that will blow up on the PCB and if that is the case there will be no power to the MCU, etc and you will not be able to gain ATA access. Most IBM/HGST will not have shorted TVS (like we see allot on WD PCBs)....

- IF TVS/diode is shorted your PSU will shut down. That is exactly the function of the TVS .... It prevents the power from entering the drive by shuting down the PSU due to the short. It will be like if you apply power to ground. A fuse will just stop the power from flowwing as there will be an open "cut" on the circuitry, it's like when you lift a switch ... Power will not be able to flow but PSU will not shut down as there will be NO short circuit. You can "bridge" the fuse and the power will flow again but on the TVS case you should REMOVE IT to remove the short and you need to bridge any fuse that is broken ... Of course that if the PCB does have further issues or the power supply is got stable you will fry the rest of the PCB ....

- As my experience goes when i do have damaged HGST/IBM PCBs that do not report BSY/DRDY/DSC and when i try to "fix" fuses on those they tent to ALLWAYS blow somewhere else so i don't bother anymore, i just replace the PCB.

- You need to move ROM chip (on ARM) + ROM chip and NVRam chip on older IBM based drives from the broken PCB to the new one, assuming the code on the chip is ok.

- If you have a drive with damaged NVRam you should still be able to see the DRDY and DSC and you should be able to use the VSCs to read/write NVRam.

- Plig the PCB only to your firmware tool or laking that plug it to the system and run something like Victoria, MHDD, HRT DEMO, etc on the port where you do have the PCB connected.

Victoria appears to be a powerful but quite complicated tool, and the manual is in russian... There are several warnings when it's launched, are they important ? (“Uknown error or driver not exist”, “PORTTALK Error. Invalid driver handle”, “PortTalk driver not installed! Available only API access”) On my main machine (running on Windows 7) I can get SMART status for the connected drive, with my former machine (also running on Win7, based on a Pentium Dual Core E5200 and a GeForce 9300 motherboard, Nvidia storage controler), which I prefer to use for potentially hazardous stuff which may cause a system freeze or shutdown, I can not. When I plug that drive (I tried on the old computer through internal SATA and on the current one through USB), the whole thing or the PCB only, nothing noticeable happens.HRT Demo apparently runs only on... Windows 98 ?! How come this hasn't been updated to run on current OS if it's still relevant to current drives ? I could do a Windows 98 install if that's necessary, but would it be any useful if the system doesn't recognize the drive at all ?

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- Power it up and check register status.

What is the register status ? With which one of the aforementioned tools can I check that ?

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- If the PCB goes to BSY for a while and then later it reports DRDY and DSC you should be able to try the Super On combination to access memory (arch M24) or normal Super On on ARM and read NVRam.

That's a lot of acronyms in one sentence ! But I guess it's all moot if the drive doesn't even appear in the list, right ? (I plugged a working drive – well, defective but still spinning – on the same SATA cable, it was identified as number 4, then unplugged it and plugged the Hitachi 2.5" 250GB to the same cable, no more number 4.)

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- If the PCB doesn't report BSY and then DRDY and DSC the PCB is NOT working as expected.

Maybe I should run some tests with a known working PCB to verify if there's anything wrong with my configuration.

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- If you don't have specific firmware tools and you don't know VSCs to use with HRT DEMO for example you can simply check register status and it should provide a clue ...

Again, how can I check the register status ? I don't know any VSC, and wouldn't know where to find them, unless someone here is willing to share...Could HDDSuperTool be useful in a case like this ?

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- Most IBM/HGST will have a FUSE that will blow up on the PCB and if that is the case there will be no power to the MCU, etc and you will not be able to gain ATA access. Most IBM/HGST will not have shorted TVS (like we see allot on WD PCBs)....

So, technically, and practically, what is the difference between a fuse and a TVS diode ? Don't they serve the same purpose ? What does a fuse look like on a HDD's PCB, and do you see one on the picture I provided ?How can I check if there's power to the MCU ?

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- IF TVS/diode is shorted your PSU will shut down. That is exactly the function of the TVS .... It prevents the power from entering the drive by shuting down the PSU due to the short. It will be like if you apply power to ground. A fuse will just stop the power from flowwing as there will be an open "cut" on the circuitry, it's like when you lift a switch ... Power will not be able to flow but PSU will not shut down as there will be NO short circuit. You can "bridge" the fuse and the power will flow again but on the TVS case you should REMOVE IT to remove the short and you need to bridge any fuse that is broken ... Of course that if the PCB does have further issues or the power supply is got stable you will fry the rest of the PCB ....

Alright, that somewhat answers the question above. But again, how can I locate a TVS diode or a fuse on the circuit ? What is the safest and/or easiest way to bridge a fuse ? (If there is one, it must be tiny...) How can I check if it's working properly before reconnecting it to the drive ?

After stripping the defective cable I managed to get my multimeter reading a 4.97V value in F1 on the plugged PCB ; I get 0,00V in D1, although I'm pretty sure that it was 4,97V as well yesterday (sure it's impractical with a stripped wire but I checked several times in both directions) ; 0.00V in F2. Beyond that I'm kinda stuck... So far I've used that thing mainly to check batteries !

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- As my experience goes when i do have damaged HGST/IBM PCBs that do not report BSY/DRDY/DSC and when i try to "fix" fuses on those they tent to ALLWAYS blow somewhere else so i don't bother anymore, i just replace the PCB.

You mean they tend to blow somewhere else right away, or does it usually leave enough time to image the data ?

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- You need to move ROM chip (on ARM) + ROM chip and NVRam chip on older IBM based drives from the broken PCB to the new one, assuming the code on the chip is ok.

And so am I correct in assuming that the ROM chip is located in “U6”, on the thinner portion of the PCB ? Where would the NVRam chip be ? On that particular model, what would it be ? Moving one of those tiny chips seems to be a tricky procedure, especially on a 2.5" drive ; what kind of tool is required to perform this safely ?I may have to get this done by a trained professional, but I need to be sure that this can be the cure. (There's a computer repair shop nearby managed by asian guys who seem to have good soldering equipment and abilities – they have a full-blown soldering bench and seem to actually repair motherboards and the like which is very rare nowadays – but what is not reassuring is that the boss doesn't even know what a SMART status is and how to find the number of bad sectors on a HDD... and he doesn't even have Internet access in his shop, so I couldn't even have him download some free analysis tool ! (I just asked him to establish a certificate of failure for another HDD a few months ago, as requested by the insurance ; I had to re-edit the document to add the specific information measured by myself.) (In another shop I went to before for that same purpose, the technician did know how to get SMART data with Crystal Disk Info, but he told me that there were “200” bad sectors, which is the normalized value, I had to show him how to get the actual count – and they were asking 25€ just to print the document. It's amazing how such incompetent people can make a profit in that kind of technical field.))

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- If you have a drive with damaged NVRam you should still be able to see the DRDY and DSC and you should be able to use the VSCs to read/write NVRam.

How can I know if the NVRam is damaged (assuming there's a NVRam chip in the first place) ? Can this be checked with Victoria after plugging the PCB only ?

@jono-ats

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No spin could also be caused by bad heads.

In that case, wouldn't there be at least a faint noise, indicating that the drive is attempting to start up but is failing to do so ? Could it happen so suddenly, on a drive which was performing without issue up until then ?

Well, could anyone please give me some specific insight regarding that particular model, help me diagnose the type of failure and determine if I can attempt to fix it myself ?How can I say for sure if it's a problem with the PCB or with the HSA ?Also, I haven't figured out how to interpret the schematics linked by mhp666, i.e., how to measure the resistance of the motor, it doesn't look like anything I see on the drive or the PCB.

How can I say for sure if it's a problem with the PCB or with the HSA ?

Make Victoria work in PIO mode. You need for Victoria to install the porttalk driver. On windows 64 bit drivers have to be signed. Problem is Victoria driver is not signed and it doesn't install on your windows. Get something like windows xp 32 bit or run Victoria from Hiren's boot mini XP or use alternative software like MHDD or disable the requirement for drivers to be signed on your windows or use WDMarvel with the option to install the self-signed driver, etc .... ANYTHING that show the REGISTER STATUS of the drive will do.

Now plug the PCB only and power it up. Check the register status.

If you see BSY for a while and then DRDY and DSC PCB is working at least to some level and even if NVRam is damaged/cleared you should be able to access it by VSC.

If drive doesn't report register status (you see exactly the same register status as you see without drive plugged to that port) PCB si cooked ...

What i was saying was if you use some tool that can show the register status of the drive like MHDD, Victoria, etc or if you have any comercial firmware tool like PC-3000, MRT, HRT, etc and if you plug PCB only on ANY IBM BASED drive (arch M24, ARM based, etc) you should see this IF THE PCB IS STILL WORKING :

I did run some tests on my older / secondary PC, booted on its Windows XP 32bit partition (following your advice), with Victoria and MHDD, first plugging a known working drive, noting how it was identified, then plugging the defective drive's PCB to the same SATA cable, but then nothing happened at all. I don't remember the specifics, but some settings didn't seem to be working as expected, or were greyed-out (perhaps because the BIOS wasn't configured as required, see below).

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On IBM/Hitachi/HGST (IBM NATIVE) drives with DAMAGED PCB on all cases that i did have so far there are NO ATA INTERFACE meaning normaly a fuse will blow or whatever and the PCB will NOT REPLY BY SATA/IDE meaning that with your firmware tool or MHDD, VICTORIA you will NOT SEE BSY and DRDY/DSC . You will only see exactly the same as if you were selecting a channel without drive ! There will be no register status as the PCB will be dead and it will be exactly like not plugging any drive at all. Depending on the system you might see all register status lit, error, abort, etc ..... it will display exactly as it would without any drive so no drdy and dsc.

That's pretty much what I think I got, but I'm not confident enough with those tools to say for sure if I did it right and did not miss something, hence the “inconclusive” statement. After I did those tests (about a week ago, maybe more, I'm a bit lost in time these days), reading further about the issue (here for instance), I realized that I had not modified the storage settings in the BIOS and it's probably set to RAID on that computer, which probably means that I'll have to start all over again (which I do a lot these days, for just about everything, and it seems like everything is falling apart at the same time).

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- From here you can issue the "universal" "Super ON" to gain access to NVRam for M24 arch drives or the Super On for ARM drives and then read RAM or read NVRam or whatever. This does work with PCB ONLY as explained !!!! Example on M24 arch :

I currently don't have access to professional hard drive repair tools, so even if it's interesting to know what they can do, any advice that implies the use of such a tool in anything but a demo version won't be relevant to this particular situation.By the way, it would be nice to have a “sticky” thread (apologies if there's one already and I've missed it !) in “Knowledge base” or “Software and hardware tools” listing all commonly used software diagnostic / repair utilities, with a short summary reporting their abilities in demo / full version, the system requirements (some apparently run only on older systems, on only on 32-bit systems, etc.), the cost of a licence, and so on.

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For the record i was NEVER able to repair a single IBM/HITACHI/HGST PCB so replacing with compatible PCB + moving ROM (OR ROM + NVRAM) should do the trick.

And this trick might be trickier than you make it sound ! For starters, I don't know for sure what ROM and NVRAM components look like. And even after two hours of yoga I wouldn't feel confident about un-soldering / re-soldering those tiny things, with my basic soldering iron. If I ask someone to do it, I need to be sure that they do have the right equipment and expertise.I understand (well, sort of) why the ROM has to be transfered, but what exactly is the NVRAM and why is it also necessary to transfer it to get the drive to work again ?Is there a way to dump the ROM with a free / demo software tool, then have an PCB seller copy it to the ROM chip of the replacement PCB ? If I'm not mistaken, it seems to be possible with WD drives and WDMarvel Demo, apparently there's no such luck for other brands, is that right ? Or would I have to send the defective PCB ? (Apparently they propose that service for free at hdd-parts.com – but if the original gets lost it's game over...)

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If PCB reports DRDY+DSC and if you can read NVRam most likely the "problem" is elsewhere .... Check NVRam and if it's OK and if ROM is ok as well most likely PRE-AMP (inside drive) is gone ...

So it's a good thing if the PCB is kaputt... (At least I have a shot at repairing the drive for a relatively cheap price.)

It's hard to say for sure with that messed-up multimeter (for now I made a quick-and-dirty repair with a needle as a makeshift probe), and I'm not sure where exactly to put the probes when there are three points, but :– I get 4.97V at "fuse" (that one at least is consistent)– at "+5V" I get 0V if I place the two probes at either of the three points you highlighted, but 4.97V between either one of those three points and the one above that (in front of "fuse") or the one below that...– at "+5V fused" I get 0V but I'm not sure if I'm measuring correctly as you highlighted the left side only...– "Va", "Vb", "Vcore" are all at 0V, no matter where I put the probes...– I get about 1.50V at the two points near the upper edge of the second picture (regs.jpg), at the right side of Vcore, but it's not stable, I've measured it at 1.25, 0.9, 0.1, just moving a tiny bit it goes up and down... and I've no idea if it's at all relevant...

When you measure a voltage, you are measuring a difference in potential between two points. One point is usually the ground reference, eg a screw hole. That's where you place the black probe. The red probe is placed on the test point that you wish to measure, eg Va, Vb.

(...)Is there a way to dump the ROM with a free / demo software tool, then have an PCB seller copy it to the ROM chip of the replacement PCB ? If I'm not mistaken, it seems to be possible with WD drives and WDMarvel Demo, apparently there's no such luck for other brands, is that right(...)

1 - If the PCB is working you can dump the ROM/NVRam as i stated. You plug PCB only and you get BSY then DRDY and DSC and you can use VSCs to read content ...

2 - If the PCB is gone (not even reply by ATA or getting power) you will not get register status so you can't send commands so you can't dump anything .... That was the point of the test ...

Now it does look like PCB is gone ... Either you have external programmer that do support your chips and you read them and write them to the new PCB or you do move the chip(s).

Shouldn't be impossible to recover if you do loose NVRam but it will be way more expensive...

But i will let you do some more measuring to confirm if the PCB is indeed gone ...

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